Jan. 2 Letters: Afghanistan troops, Convention of the States

They have been fighting each other in that region since before Alexander the Great and will no doubt continue.

It is not worth the life of one more American boy; bring the troops home now.

Don't worry about al-Queda. As soon as we leave they will be too busy killing each other.

Alan Fletcher

Newport News

There is a growing movement to call for a Convention of the States (COS,) also known as a constitutional convention, in order to add amendments to our Constitution, citing Article V as the authority to do so. Their argument is that since we can't trust Congress to do the right thing, we should have delegates from the states get together to alter our Constitution.

At the 1787 constitutional convention, we had George Washington, George Mason and their ilk. Who do we have today? Who is representing us Virginians?

Bill Howell appointed those attending the first COS get-together on December 7.

Attending from Virginia were:

Senator Frank Ruff – who voted for the tax increase/transportation (HB 2313) in the last Virginia Assembly.

L. Scott Lingamfelter - voted in 2004 in the Virginia Assembly to rescind the previous call for a con con (that had been passed when the Democrats controlled the Assembly) on this basis:

"WHEREAS, the operations of a convention are unknown and the apportionment and selection of delegates, method of voting in convention, and other essential procedural details are not specified in Article V ………the prudent course requires the General Assembly to rescind and withdraw all past applications for a convention to amend the Constitution of the United States …"

Delegate Jim Le Munyon — who voted for the tax increase/transportation bill ( HB 2313) in the last assembly and who voted to rescind the previous call for a con con but is an advocate for one now.

Delegate David Albo who also voted for the tax increase/transportation bill in the last assembly and voted against a con con in 2004 — but for it in 2013

If legislators won't honor the Constitution we have now, why think they would honor an altered one?